If you just give the Rangers the 12th pick again, with no knowledge of how the future of the team would shake out, and have Kopitar and Staal both there, I think we still take Staal.

maybe...id need to remember who we had in the system at that point, and how highly they were thought of...did we have any stud defensive prospects? if not, then you definitely take Staal....wasnt Jessiman looked at as a legit possibility back then? maybe thats why Kopitar would be passed on?

Because the question was about the past rather than the present...kinda like the butterfly effect. If they take Kopitar with pick 1, how does that effect the rest of their picks? Do they still take Tom Pyatt in the 4th round? or do they try to get another defenseman? Does Tom Pyatt not being taken effect the Rangers ability to trade Scott Gomez away? Does that affect the ability to sign Gaborik?

I dunno, maybe im overthinking it...i tend to do so with time anomalies...its the Star Trek nerd in me

Hmm, when you put it like that, it really makes me realize how pointless this thread really is

So, I was looking at the 2005 draft and it got me thinking. Assuming the Kings passed on Kopitar and knowing what we do today, who do you draft? Staal or Kopitar?

This is a hypothetical. If your going to waste our time posting things like "But they did draft Kopitar" don't even post here

I think I still draft Staal. This team would have serious problems without Staal for the last 3 years.

The real hypothetical is this.

If the Kings had passed on Kopitar, it's almost certain that they'd have taken Staal. Do we still trade up, or roll the dice to see if Kopitar falls to 16?

Furthermore, where does that leave us down the road? With Kopitar in tow, does Sanguinetti get rushed? Does he even get drafted (Claude Giroux?)? By 2007, are we even in position to draft a falling star like Cherepanov, or are we looking at more of the Ellerby/Sutter/McDonagh chunk?

Too many variables at hand to really look at this. Especially with that particular part of the draft. If the Canucks had actually gone with BoB, they'd have Kopi, the Kings would have Staal....would we have had Luc Bourdon?

How many #1 D-Men are in the league... How important are they when you have Crosby, Malkin, Richards, Carter, Elias etc.. etc..

Staal is not in the league of the players listed there. Kopitar has the kind of skill that Staal would need to be listed among the "elite."

Regardless of whether or not the Rangers had a Crosby, Malkin, Richards, etc. (which they did not, by the way, when making the pick), knowing what we know of Kopitar today, the clear choice, by a country mile, is Kopitar.

I stand by my statement regarding an exercise in home-grown player bias.

Staal. Staal is a already a shutdown defenseman at 23 who is having his best offensive season on a offensively challenged team. His fuse should be shorter, hopefully one day he will show some meaness.

Kopitar is no slouch either but you take that western conference style and an always offense first L.A King team, put Kopitar on the Rangers and his impact drops dramatically. Anze is streaky. But I love his size and skill.

Kopitar is no slouch either but you take that western conference style and an always offense first L.A King team, put Kopitar on the Rangers and his impact drops dramatically. Anze is streaky. But I love his size and skill.

the extremely defensive Western conference and one man forecheck Terry Murray coached Kings?

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Yep that historically wide open Conference that Kopitar has been playing for in his four years as a King. Only one and a half under Murray. That One.

Actually the east is more wide open. When you say 'historically' you must be referring to gretzky era oilers and before. Since the mid 90's, with the exception of the devils, the east has been notoriously more offensive minded. Until henrik sedin this year the east pretty consistently has the art Ross winners and runner ups. Forsberg in the early 2000s is the only one that comes to mind. For the longest time the southeast was absolute crap, and for the most part it still is. Always one good team and the rest are terrible. With the ridiculous schedule in place the east has feasted on that **** show of a division for a while now.

In today's game there is definitely more of a focus on defense out west.

As for the thread topic, nyr fans might be biased, but I also thnk a lot of you probably don't see much hockey other than the home team. Some ppl in here are definitely overrating kopitar. Lots of talent but major consistency issues. Defenseman also traditionally take longer to develop.

Actually the east is more wide open. When you say 'historically' you must be referring to gretzky era oilers and before. Since the mid 90's, with the exception of the devils, the east has been notoriously more offensive minded. Until henrik sedin this year the east pretty consistently has the art Ross winners and runner ups. Forsberg in the early 2000s is the only one that comes to mind. For the longest time the southeast was absolute crap, and for the most part it still is. Always one good team and the rest are terrible. With the ridiculous schedule in place the east has feasted on that **** show of a division for a while now.

In today's game there is definitely more of a focus on defense out west.

As for the thread topic, nyr fans might be biased, but I also thnk a lot of you probably don't see much hockey other than the home team. Some ppl in here are definitely overrating kopitar. Lots of talent but major consistency issues. Defenseman also traditionally take longer to develop.

I'm crazy, somehow I think this team will find a #1 center some day, so i'd keep Staal and take my chances. He'll be a rock back there for years. In a division with Crosby, Malkin, Richards, Parise, Tavares i'll take the defense now

I'm crazy, somehow I think this team will find a #1 center some day, so i'd keep Staal and take my chances. He'll be a rock back there for years. In a division with Crosby, Malkin, Richards, Parise, Tavares i'll take the defense now

I can understand why you say that. Just look at how many #1 centers that have played for the Rangers in recent memory.

Staal might become Kevin Lowe eventaully, if he's very lucky. While Kopitar won't be Messier (how many are?), name centers on the Rangers in the last 40 years that you would take over Kopitar.